The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1887-06-02

about the body. You all recall Ram
brandt's Lesson in Anatomy do you
notp said Gen. Gerald, appealing to
his companions. Well, add to that the
tintings, the shadows. the groupings.
OF Guerard Storer, better known as
the ..painter of nights" and you will
have some little idea of that lugubrious
scene. The body, stretched upon the
table. naked. and lying in thelight Of the
lantern, was that Of q man suddenly
struck BY death in the very prime Of
life. Magniticently formed, Of tall,
commanding stature. and with round
and well-devcloped muscles. he would
have been model for an artist.
There was profound silence
in the room rs the doctor began his
preparations to open the body.
This" said he. carefully adjusting
the instrument to the neck of the
corpse, 1.-The point at which We shall
begin the examination. is the Gsopha-
gus. or gnllct, the pipe that supplies
the air to the lungs" and with short,
swift turn Of the wrist the doctor buried
the scalpel deeply. As the instrument
sank into the flesh the man started mp.
his pale face violently contracted. his
hands clinched, his breast heaving.
His eyes. opening again and again.
fixed themselves upon us with strange
and untranshtable looks. a hoarse and
strangled cry forcing itself from the
purple lips. At this horrible sight the
doctor became as pale as death, then as
red as flame. With sudden, rapid
movement Of the scalpcl. using all his
strength, he opened the breast Of the
man from windpipe to diaphragm. At
the same time, in voice made firm by
prodigious effort Of will, he said to
his pupils: .Give me your attention.
please: galvanic phenomena are of no
importance-the lesson now begins.
All this passed in less than second
felt my temples covered with cold
sweat-my legs bent under me. was
forced to hold to the upright Of the Ian
tern to keep myself erect. That cry
that hoarse. gasping agonizing cry
terrified and appalled, me! ! raised my
eyes to Gonzalez and to the rest Of the
class-they also were CHASTITY with
fright-but no one spoke, no one
moved. no one dared to risk even a
gesture. They understood instinctiYely
that the doctor, convinced of the i'm pos
sibility of restoring the man after the
wound he had given him, had taken the
surest and promptest way of finishing
him. No matter what had been the
ruling motive in this mangling of the
poor wretch before us, humanity, phil
anthropy, self-intercst, he had never
thelcss been nssdsindted. What must
have been the feelings of that physician
as, never for an instant losing his pres
ence of mind. he forced himself to con-
tinue the lesson! He perceived, Of
course, the embarrassment of his audi
tors. distracted by the memory of that
terrible cry, that imploring look; yet
nothing in face or manner betrayed it.
After the first involuntary tremor
not muscle quivered; his voice was
never calmer, his sentences more scnor-
ouslv rounded. fluent. or eloquent.
The uneasiness was general, and at
the close of the lecture-the length Of
it considerable abridged. l can tell
You've hurried from the room, the
doctor going with us, but not without
first slipping in some clever words
about the .as yet unrav6led mysteries
of science" professional secrets. and
discretion generally" as necessary a
quality to the success Of a physician, 50
the doctor stated. as knowledge Of the
calling itself. All the same he took
good care not to refer to what we had
seen and heard at the opening Of the
lecture. but he knew that we had un.
derstood his meaning, and read upor
our faces, as by tacit consent, the prom
Use of inviolate secrecy. Well,
and we keptit, said Gerald, laying a.
side his cigar and raising to leave the
room: but it is needless to say that
have never since attended dissectine
seance. As for Pietro Gonzalez, he i.
not doctor. The peaceful ayocatior
of Calabrian sheep-raising insomnia nc
longer sits upon his pillow and plague.
him with a scalpel.-.Adapted by A. d
Lanzieres Themines.